Cougars Men's Basketball Loses at Loyola

The Chicago State men's basketball team ran into a buzzsaw at Gentile Arena Tuesday night, dropping a 92-56 decision to the Loyola Ramblers. Turnovers hurt the Cougars, committing 26 for the game while only committing eight in the opener versus St. Thomas and 22 against SIUE. Loyola led from wire to wire, shooting 56.9 percent from the floor, including 11-23 (47.8) from beyond the three-point arc. Loyola also scored 38 points off CSU turnovers.

Loyola jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, partly to three CSU turnovers leading to Ramblers layups. Jahsean Corbett settled the run, converting a long three to cut the lead to four, 11-7, but CSU turnovers would be a theme in the first half, giving up 17 leading to 27 Ramblers points. 

At the 7:58 mark, Loyola broke the game open with a 17-3 run over the next 4:30, extending a 24-15 lead to 39-18 with 3:32 remaining in the first half. The Ramblers closed the half with a 7-4 run, four coming from the charity stripe and went into the locker room at halftime leading 46-22. 

Loyola came out of the locker room after halftime and posted a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 33, 55-22, before Brandon Betson hit a three to briefly slow the surge. Betson, who was just named the Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week Monday, was a bright spot for the Cougars. He scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, which included 4-of-7 from three-point range.

Coreyoun Rushin led the Cougars with nine rebounds while Betson also led the team with four assists.

Next up, the Cougars will travel to California for a two-game road trip, facing UC-Santa Barbara on Saturday, November 20 then at Pacific on Monday, November 22.

Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).  The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet. 

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